


Once Upon a Nightmare

by cryptidcloset



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Angst, Homophobia, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Panic Attacks, Polyamory, Suicide, Torture, dark king!Virgil, virgil is actually real sweet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:42:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24956272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cryptidcloset/pseuds/cryptidcloset
Summary: He remembers everything, absolutely everything... but they don't.He's had to sit and watch as his beloveds argued and jousted and hurt one another without knowing his inner turmoil.His pain.Virgil was so close to breaking.He remembers...
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Deceit | Janus Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil/Creativity | Roman/Deceit | Janus/Logic | Logan/Morality | Patton (Sanders Sides), Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders
Comments: 2
Kudos: 45





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Again I wrote this a long time ago, but I hope that you can spark me into finishing this!  
> Enjoy~

Virgil sighed as he popped in, making his witty remark mark to signal that he was there to contribute to their senseless bickering. This particular video Thomas and Roman had created barely needed his assistance but there he was, standing and listening to their issue of the day. Patton cracked his jokes, Roman was being a complete narcissist, Logan was analyzing their predicament, and Thomas was acting uncomfortable with the situation around him. Virgil knew that this was how they all go, the storm before the calm, but something in him was screaming at him. Gritting his teeth, he glared at everyone present. 

“Shut up!”

The other sides and Thomas paused as their arguing was brought to a screeching halt. All eyes were on Virgil as they all questioned what the anxious side required. Upon seeing the seething face of the purple clad side, the tension in the air rose.

“Vir-” Thomas was about to say, but was promptly silenced by a deadly glare. Roman cleared his throat and took a breath before looking at Thomas.

“We can cut this long silence and roll right into the next line.” The fanciful side assured, putting on his amplified arrogance once more. Patton and Logan glanced at each other before fixing their postures and straightening their glasses to look more like their perceived selves. Roman made the most offended look he could muster, a hand flying up to his chest like he was physically wounded.

“Uh! How dare you speak to me like that! I am a prince!” Roman tried to make it as goofy sounding as possible for the fanders to chuckle at, knowing some of them would really need it through the duration of the particularly heavy video. 

It didn’t get the witty comeback that the prince had hoped. 

Instead of scoffing, or rolling his eyes, Virgil all but snarled at him. Patton let out a small ‘eep!’ and tensed up, his clenched knuckles underneath his chin in an act of fear. Even Logan started to tense, his eyes uncharacteristically wide and hand hovering near his glasses as if he was going to fix them but decided last second not to. Thomas felt the hostile energy coming from his anxious side, wondering in horror what got him so worked up. 

“If you’re a prince, then you should bow to your King.” Virgil grit out, a wicked smile playing on his lips. Roman froze, staring at the side’s eyes. They weren’t his normal soft brown color that made them all melt with warmth. They were purple voids of hypnotizing darkness. Patton made a noise of confusion before he apparently found his voice. 

“V-Virgil? Kiddo?” The dad croaked, reaching a hand out the estranged man having a staring contest with a bewildered Roman. Virgil blinked a few times before he relaxed from the tensed position he previously harbored. The smile disappeared from his face when the anxious side glanced around, seeing the rigid men before him. Logan blinked his owl eyes a few times before adjusting his tie, turning to try to figure out the cause of the outburst. Virgil at least looked sheepish, his hand coming up to scratch the back of his head.

“Sorry guys, I’m not feeling too well…” The side nervously chuckled, glancing at each person in the room before sinking out. An uncomfortable silence rang through the apartment before Logan reached up to turn the cameras off. 

“Seems like that is enough filming for today. I believe that we are all tired and require rest to restore ourselves.” Logan spoke calmly, swiftly sinking out too. 

“I… think I earned a few dozen cookies,” Patton said weariness clear in his tone, “You gonna join me Roman?” The moral side asked, turning to the said side. Roman was clearly still in a daze, staring at the spot Virgil once occupied. Shaking his head slightly, the prince turned to the dad with a soft grin. 

“Yeah, I’ll be there in a second.” Roman said, watching as Patton sank out as well. Thomas softly cleared his throat, eyeing his creativity. The side faced his friend, glancing at everywhere but him. 

“Soooooo…” The You Tuber started, lifting his hand in a half shrug, “Wanna explain what that was all about?” 

It was obvious that Thomas wanted an explanation, but Roman had absolutely no clue what the events that just happened meant. Was it a tantrum? Something Virgil though was witty but it came out more sinister than he meant? Was it lack of sleep? Roman couldn’t begin to fathom why that had happened.

What was really haunting his thoughts was those eyes. Not the color, that was beautiful, but the coldness that they held. The calculated madness that had been harbored in those wonderful orbs of dark lilac. Roman shuddered at the thought of that piercing gaze.

It was almost as if-

“Roman!” 

The fanciful side was brought out of his inner turmoil by the shout of his host. 

“Princey, you okay?” The genuine concern on Thomas’ face made Roman’s lips turn up a little. 

“Yeah, I’m a-okay! Just thinking a bit. Yeah I don’t really know what that was but I do recall Virgil being unable to sleep recently.” The creative side mused, rubbing his chin in thought. Thomas made a sympathetic noise and pursed his lips. 

“He needs to get more sleep, for the good of us all.” The YouTuber huffed a laugh and started to clean his recording equipment to make more room to walk around. 

Roman couldn’t get out of there fast enough. The strange eyes of Virgil were burned behind his eyelids and he couldn’t stop thinking about it. Even as Patton waved to him, a batch of cookies already cooling and looking more relaxed, Roman could only wonder… 

What had happened?


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trying to get back to equilibrium, the mind palace is a little awkward.  
> TW: Panic Attack

Logan sat at his desk, sighing at the pages upon pages of nothing. He was still reeling from Virgil’s outburst from earlier and he wasn’t quite sure if it was a good idea to leave the anxious side by himself after all of those confusing statements. Figuring that nothing would he would get nothing productive done, the logical side stood and went over to his drawer. The neatly stacked puzzle boxes filled him with content as he picked one that was 5,000 pieces with the picture of a forest with a castle in the background. Logan wasn’t sure why he had chosen that one, maybe it was the dark theme and the way the castle at the very back contrasted to the vibrant forest in front of it. Regardless, the logical side decided that he would prefer company rather than be by himself. 

Roman and Patton had fallen into a rhythm. Roman would gather ingredients, Patton would strategically fold them all together and they would both mold the soft cookie dough into whatever their imagination would allow. Roman had almost forgotten about the happenings of earlier, but it was like a seed that planted itself in his brain and rooted itself so he couldn’t forget. The creative side was sure that Patton and Logan were both shocked, but they hadn’t been on the receiving end of those eyes. Those piercing, purple, cold eyes. It sent a shutter up Roman’s spine when he thought about it, the way Virgil’s calm and nonchalant exterior shattered in a matter of a few minutes of banter. He hadn’t realized that Logan was sitting at the counter until he practically sat in the logical side’s lap. Blushing furiously, Roman stood up and looked at a bewildered Logan to apologize when Patton bounded over and wrapped his arms around the tie clad man.

“Hey Logan! Whatcha up to?” The cheery man chirped, looking at the box that was in a firm grasp. “Ah! Trying to relax kiddo? Roman and I are making cookies! I’ll bring some over when they’re done.” Patton left a kiss on the top of Logan’s head and basically skipped over to the oven where their third batch was steadily becoming golden brown. Logan took a moment to compose himself as the creative side sat next to him, watching as the blue eyed man opened and dumped out the puzzle set. He proceeded to spread the pieces out until they were all flat against the table and started to get to work. Patton hummed and grabbed a carton of milk out of the fridge before pouring four glasses. Roman accepted his and sipped it as he watched Logan’s hands dance over the shades of blacks, greys, greens and oranges. The heart hummed as he realized that Logan wasn’t going to take the glass from him and placed it beside the frame. It took the logical side a few seconds to realize that the calcium drink was even there, but blinked out of his concentration to take a steady gulp. Placing a plate of cookies in front of the duo, Patton smiled softly before exchanging kisses with Roman. “Now that you kiddos have your treats I’m going to bring some of these to our storm cloud.”

The room, which was starting to relax, got tense again. Patton frowned, putting the extra glass of milk and another plate of storm cloud shaped cookies on a tray to carry up to Virgil. Roman shared a look with Logan before the creative side huffed a breath, looking up to the frowning male in front of them. 

“Pat, don’t you think that we should talk about it?” Roman refused to address the situation entirely. Logan straightened up even more, if that were possible, and reached a hand for Patton’s. 

“Yes I find that it would be adequate to metaphorically ‘address the elephant in the room.’” The blue eyed male looked imploringly at the heart, urging him to sit down. Patton stubbornly stayed standing, his baby blue eyes sternly looking down at the two of them. The creative side sighed and stood as well, raising his hand to smooth the frown from the shorter male’s face. It worked slightly, and Patton smiled softly. 

“Listen, why don’t we just bring these to him and we’ll all talk then?” Roman suggested, wrapping an arm around the heart as Logan joined them in the awkward half hug. After a moment, they all separated and grabbed their own belongings to go up and visit their anxious side. Patton wrung his hands together as they all went to Virgil’s room, tentatively knocking on his door. 

There was no answer.

“Pat?”

The heart turned to see dark circles forming under Roman and Logan’s eyes, reaching out to touch it. Logan looked mildly alarmed, opening the door without any other prompting. 

“Virge?” 

The room was a lot darker than usual, making it harder to navigate the identical living room and make their way up to the anxious side’s room. Another moment of knocking and another look of concern made way to Roman opening his door. That is when they saw him, curled up on the floor and clutching the sleeves of his jacket like it was his last lifeline. 

“Virgil!” 

Without any further prompting, the three rushed forward and kneeled beside the sobbing male. Patton showed Virgil his hands and waiting until the side nodded to actually scoop him up. Virgil clung to the heart and hid his face in the cream colored cardigan, smudging his makeup on the light color. Roman placed the plate of cookies on the floor next to his and grabbed Virgil’s hand, kissing the tears from his cheeks. Logan, a bit more stiff, placed the glass of milk next to the plate and tapped Virgil’s arm, waiting for the panicking boy to turn and face him. 

“Would you prefer to be on the bed?” He said, gently wiping away the tear tracks that had streamed down his face. Virgil glanced as the said object and nodded mutely, letting out a startled grunt when Patton lifted him with minimal effort. All four of them climbed onto the tiny bed, smushing together as best as they could. Logan went through breathing techniques with the shaking side and gently smiled when he saw that it was working. 

When Virgil was no longer in danger of passing out, Patton decided to speak up.

“Kiddo, mind sharing with us what happe-”

The moral side was cut off by a loud sob and a mantra of apologies, Virgil hiding his face in his hands like it would make him disappear. 

“I-I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to, I’m sorry I’m such a bad boyfriend and you probably hate me now pleasedon’thatemeIdidn’tmeantosnapatyouoh god-” Virgil rambled, gasping for air. Logan shushed him, trying his best to calm his loved one down. Roman carded his fingers through purple locks of hair, kissing the back of Virgil’s neck softly. Patton was fretting over the small boy just as much, wiping tears away, cooing small words of encouragement and love, peppering his face with kisses until no strip of skin was untouched. Finally, Virgil went lax, melting into Roman’s ministrations and humming timidly when the brain and the heart planted kisses on his forehead and lips. 

“Kiddo, we’re not mad. We could never hate you, Virge, I promise.” Morality declared it like it was an oath he had repeated every morning before getting up at ungodly hours to make his boyfriends breakfast. Virgil just stayed silent, wiping his eyes and nose on his hoodie before sitting up slowly. A comforting hand on his back helped him all the way up, massaging in between his shoulder blades to make his tense back loosen. Roman was always good with his hands, and he prided himself on making things for others. At the moment, he was just happy to give his stressed boyfriend the comfort he needed. 

“Thank you guys, I know I get insecure… but I can’t help it and I-”

“Virgil.” A clipped voice interrupted, hands planting themselves on the purple man’s shoulders. Logan slowly wrapped his arms around Virgil and rocked back and forth. Although it was stiff, it was comforting in a sense that only Logan could make. The anxious side found himself relaxing even more, closing his eyes to savor the warmth that was surrounding him. 

After another pause, Patton tried a smile for the sake of the worn out male in front of him.

“We brought you some cookies, would that make you feel better?” The moral side ducked his head, rubbing circles into the hand he had clasped in his own. Virgil let out a snort, cracking one eye open to peer at the abandoned plate of sweets. He nodded, a tired sigh leaving his person like a bird leaving its nest. Roman got the hint and bent at an awkward angle to grab the plate, hearing a small laugh leave his storm cloud. He felt a little better as he saw the anxious side’s eyes light up at the sight of the mountain of cookies. However, as soon as Virgil saw the design on the treats, he froze. His head lowered and he picked a storm cloud cookie up, almost looking to be inspecting it before taking a bite out of it.

“It’s really good you guys.” He mumbled through a mouthful, chewing slowly. 

The four sides sat there, sharing a plate of cookies and making sure that Virgil drank a decent amount of milk before settling in for a nap together. Though, the last thought that passed through Virgil’s mind as he looked upon the sleeping faces of his companions was,

If only they knew the truth.

**Author's Note:**

> Check out some of my other content!  
> tumblr: cryptid.closet  
> tiktok: cryptid.closet  
> instagram: cryptid.closet


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